Umbria and Abruzzo by van, 5 days from Asti

Five days in the van from Asti in the central Apennines: Lake Trasimeno, Assisi and Spello, the Valnerina up to Norcia, the Castelluccio plateau, then the Gran Sasso with Santo Stefano di Sessanio, the Rocca di Calascio and Campo Imperatore. The roads are mountain roads and some are steep, but the compact van, about the size of a car, handles them easily and parks close to the villages.

Day 1, Asti to Castiglione del Lago

About 480 km and 6 hours 30 minutes of driving, on state roads. We stop at Castiglione del Lago, on the promontory above Trasimeno: the Palazzo della Corgna and the Rocca del Leone, linked by a covered walkway with views over the lake. In the late afternoon, a stretch of the cycle path that rings the lake, on foot or by e-bike. To taste: tegamaccio, the freshwater fish soup cooked slowly in an earthenware pot.

We sleep at the municipal area "La Finestra sul lago": 50 level pitches on gravel, in the shade of poplars, with electricity, water fill and waste. There are no full toilets or showers, but a nearby kiosk lets you use its facilities during opening hours.

Day 2, Assisi and Spello

About 75 km and 1 hour 15 minutes of driving, on the Centrale Umbra. First stop near Assisi, for the Basilica of San Francesco and the Porziuncola. In the year of the eighth centenary of Saint Francis's death pilgrims are many and municipal car parks may be closed to motorhomes: with the van we can fall back on the Saba car park at Santa Maria degli Angeli, on Via Giosuè Borsi, which has a camper service and a shuttle to the centre. Then Spello, with Porta Venere, the Torri di Properzio and its flowery lanes, and a short walk among the terraced olive trees of Monte Subasio. Here it is all about the oil: a tasting of bruschetta at an olive mill, with a thread of just-pressed oil, grassy and peppery.

We sleep at the municipal parking area of Spello, on Via Centrale Umbra: level, no shade and no electricity, with water fill and waste. Porta Venere is a ten-minute walk away, on an uphill path.

Day 3, Spoleto and Norcia

About 70 km and 1 hour 10 minutes of driving. From Spello south on the Flaminia to Spoleto, then the Valnerina along the river Nera, with many tunnels and viaducts, to Norcia. We walk around the centre inside the walls and, if there is time, along a flat stretch of the old Spoleto-Norcia railway, now a cycle and foot path, or on a trail toward the first slopes of the Sibillini. For dinner, pasta alla norcina, with sausage, cream and black truffle, or pecorino aged under ash with Castelluccio lentils.

We sleep at Agricamping Brandimarte, about 3 km from Norcia, at Misciano: level pitches with electricity and water, heated toilets with hot showers, waste disposal. They sell their own pecorino and lentils, and you can have dinner from their kitchen brought to the van.

Day 4, Castelluccio and Santo Stefano di Sessanio

About 140 km and 2 hours 45 minutes of driving. From Norcia the SP477 climbs to the Forca di Presta, where the view opens over the Pian Grande, and drops to Castelluccio: tight hairpins and steep grades. Via L'Aquila we reach Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a village of white limestone. From there you can walk up to the Rocca di Calascio, at 1,464 metres, in about 3 km, or use the summer shuttle or e-bikes from Calascio. Dinner is the Santo Stefano lentil soup, a Slow Food presidium, which needs no soaking.

We sleep at the agri-area of the Rosa Ciarrocca farm, on Via del Lago, on grass a few minutes on foot from the village, with electricity, water fill and waste. There is a vending machine for the farm's own pulses and saffron, and with no light pollution the starry sky is easy to see.

Day 5, Campo Imperatore and the way home

About 25 km and 45 minutes of slow driving to Campo Imperatore, at 2,130 metres, on regional road 17bis/C, which climbs in wide curves facing the Corno Grande. Up there is the historic hotel, the church of the Madonna della Neve and the astronomical observatory, and in about 40 minutes on foot you reach the Duca degli Abruzzi hut, at 2,388 metres, on the Cresta di Portella. For lunch, arrosticini on the fornacella, at the plateau's refreshment huts. If we stay up there for the night: at that altitude the temperature drops fast even in summer, and the wind can shake parked vehicles.

Then down toward Assergi, the A24 and home to Asti by the A1 and A21: about 630 km and 6 hours 30 minutes of driving.

Good to know

The season is spring or summer. We are looking for travel companions willing to split the actual costs, in a van or another compact vehicle. You need a vehicle in good order and some habit of mountain roads. The transfers are long: about 1,100 km in all, out and back. Opening times and parking rules need checking before leaving.